Method for producing a composite copper wire

ABSTRACT

The present discloses a method for producing a composite copper wire including the steps of passing an aluminum wire through an electroplating device and removing an oxidized film on the surface of the aluminum wire in deoxidized water by a rotary knife; plating a copper coat onto the aluminum wire by sequentially passing through a tank containing a copper phosphate solution and a tank containing a copper sulfate solution to produce a copper plating aluminum wire; preparing a casting furnace comprising a primary furnace and a plurality of secondary furnaces extended from the primary furnace and passing the aluminum wire vertically through the secondary furnaces, such that the copper solutions are attached on the copper plating aluminum wire according to a predetermined thickness to produce a composite copper wire. The aluminum wire is plated and coated with a copper layer for reducing costs and enhancing the electric conductivity of the composite copper wire.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a method for producing a compositecopper wire that electroplates an aluminum wire into a copper platingaluminum wire and coats a copper layer on the copper plating aluminumwire, so as to reduce costs and enhance the electric conductivity of thecomposite copper wire.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

As the electronic industry is developed rapidly and constantly, thefunctions of electronic products or the electronic component relatedtechnologies are advanced, and the signal transmission and power supplybetween electronic components primarily use copper wires as a medium. Asto the skin effect, the current is unevenly distributed in a crosssection of a conductor. In other words, the closer to the surface, thedenser is the current distribution; and the closer to the center of thecross section, the less is the current distribution. This phenomenon isparticularly significant in a high frequency circuit. From thedescription above, it is obvious that the copper material at the centerof the copper wire is not fully utilized. If a low-price aluminum wireis used to substitute the copper wire at the middle layer, then the costof the copper wire will be lowered and the electric conductivity of thecopper material can be fully utilized.

Several years ago, Texas Instrument Inc. had produced a copper cladaluminum wire, but such product was not appreciated by users and themarket, because of the following reasons. For the copper clad aluminumwire, a 10%˜30% copper layer is coated onto an aluminum wire, and thesurface of the aluminum wire is exposed to the air to produce analuminum oxide film which has an adverse effect to the electricconductivity of the copper clad aluminum wire. Furthermore, the costs ofthe manufacturing equipments and the manufacture of the copper cladaluminum wire are too high, and thus cable and wire manufacturers areunwilling to use copper clad aluminum wires, and it is the main reasonwhy the copper clad aluminum wire cannot replace the copper wire.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the shortcomings of the prior art electric wire that incurs ahigh copper consumption and a high cost, the inventor of the presentinvention based on years of experience in the related industry toconduct extensive researches and developments, and finally invented amethod for producing a composite copper wire that electroplates analuminum wire into a copper plating aluminum wire and coats a copperlayer on the copper plating aluminum wire, so as to reduce costs andenhance the electric conductivity of the composite copper wire.

Therefore, it is a primary objective of the present invention to providea method for producing a composite copper wire that electroplates analuminum wire into a copper plating aluminum wire and coats a copperlayer on the copper plating aluminum wire, so as to reduce costs andenhance the electric conductivity of the composite copper wire.

To achieve the foregoing objective of the present invention, theinvention uses a method for producing a composite copper wire comprisingthe steps of: passing an aluminum wire through an electroplating deviceand cutting off an oxidized film on the surface of the aluminum wire indeoxidized water by a rotary knife; plating a copper coat on thealuminum wire by sequentially passing through a tank containing a copperphosphate solution and a tank containing a copper sulfate solution toproduce a copper plating aluminum wire; preparing a casting furnacecomprising a primary furnace and a plurality of secondary furnacesextended from the primary furnace and passing the aluminum wirevertically through the secondary furnaces, such that the coppersolutions are attached on the copper plating aluminum wire according toa predetermined thickness to produce a composite copper wire. Thealuminum wire is plated and coated with a copper layer for reducingcosts and enhancing the electric conductivity of the composite copperwire.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an aluminum wire of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view of an electroplating device of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a copper plating aluminum wire of thepresent invention;

FIG. 4 is a side view of a casting according to the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a side view of a secondary furnace of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a portion of a secondary furnace of thepresent invention; and

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of a composite copper wire of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

To make it easier for our examiner to understand the objective of theinvention, its structure, innovative features, and performance, we use apreferred embodiment together with the attached drawings for thedetailed description of the invention.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 7 for the schematic view of an aluminum wire,the side view of an electroplating device, the schematic view of acopper plating aluminum wire, the side view of a casting, the side viewof a secondary furnace, the perspective view of a portion of a secondaryfurnace, and the schematic view of a composite copper wire of thepresent invention respectively, a method for producing a compositecopper wire comprises the following steps:

(Step 1): Pass an aluminum wire (as shown in FIG. 1) through anelectroplating device 2 (as shown in FIG. 2), and the electroplatingdevice 2 in its interior includes a first water tank 21 containingdeoxidized water, a second plating tank 22 containing a copper phosphatesolution, a third water tank 23 having a water spray nozzle 231, afourth plating tank 24 containing a copper sulfate solution, and a fifthwater tank 25 having a water spray nozzle 251, and the aluminum wire 1passes through a partition of each tank having a waterproof washer 26,and the first water tank 21 includes a rotary knife 211; cut off anoxidized film on the surface of the aluminum wire 1 in deoxidized waterby the rotary knife 211, and then plate a copper coat 31 on the aluminumwire 1 by sequentially passing through the tank containing copperphosphate solution and the tank containing copper sulfate solution toproduce a copper plating aluminum wire 3 (as shown in FIG. 3).

(Step 2): Prepare a casting furnace 4 comprising a primary furnace 41and a plurality of secondary furnaces 42 extended from the primaryfurnace 41, and the primary furnace 41 includes a material feeding inlet411 for feeding a copper sheet and a plurality of connecting pipes 412extended from a side of the primary furnace 41 for passing the coppersolution, and each connecting pipe 412 at its free end includes asecondary furnace 42 (as shown in FIG. 4) and a gate disposed inside theconnecting pipe 412 for allowing or stopping the copper solution to flowinto the secondary furnace 42, wherein the secondary furnace 42 (asshown in FIG. 5) includes a heat isolating layer 421 at the top insidethe secondary furnace 42, an insulating cooler 422 disposed on theexternal surface of the bottom, a cooler 423 protruded from thesecondary furnace 42 and disposed in the heat insulating layer 421, andthe cooler 423 is in a tubular shape and the pipe disposing under theopening at its internal diameter allows the copper plating aluminum wire3 to pass, and a water tank 4231 disposed around the pipe at itsinternal diameter for providing a water cool circulation, and a graphitemold 424 (as shown in FIG. 6) is protruded from the bottom of thesecondary furnace 42 and coupled with the cooler 423 and the bottom ofthe heat insulating layer 421, and the graphite mold 424 is in a tubularshape having an opening 4241 at the middle section for injecting thecopper solutions, and the internal diameter of the pipe under theopening 4241 is wider than the copper plating aluminum wire 3, and thebottom of the graphite mold 424 is placed into the heat insulatingcooler 422, and the heat insulating cooler 422 includes a downwardlytapered passage, and the upper passage is provided for installing thebottom of a corresponding graphite mold 424, and the internal diameterof the lower passage corresponds to the graphite mold 424. A heatinsulating layer 4223 and a vacuum heat insulating chamber 4221 areseparately disposed on the top surface where the heat insulating cooler422 and the secondary furnace 42 are connected, and a water tank 4222 isformed around the passage for a water cool circulation.

Therefore, the aluminum wire 3 is passed vertically through thesecondary furnaces 42, and the copper plating aluminum wire 3 isvertically passed through the cooler 423 and the graphite mold 424, andthen the gate 4121 in the connecting pipe 412 is opened. The primaryfurnace 41 of the casting furnace 4 will send the copper solution toeach secondary furnace 42, such that the solution with a coppersubstance 51 will pass through the opening 4241 of the graphite mold 424and will attach on the copper plating aluminum wire 3 according to apredetermined thickness, and finally will form a composite copper wire 5(as shown in FIG. 7) which is guided out from the bottom of the heatinsulating cooler 422.

In summation of the description above, the oxidized film on the surfaceof the aluminum wire is cut off by a rotary knife, and the aluminum wireis plated with a copper coat to produce a copper plating aluminum wire,and the copper plating aluminum wire is coated with a copper layer. Theinvention reduces costs and enhances the electric conductivity of thecomposite copper wire, and herein enhances the performance than theconventional structure and further complies with the patent applicationrequirements. While the invention has been described by means ofspecific embodiments, numerous modifications and variations could bemade thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from thescope and spirit of the invention set forth in the claims.

1. A method for producing a composite copper wire, comprising the stepsof: passing an aluminum wire through an electroplating device, andcutting off an oxidized film on the surface of said aluminum wire indeoxidized water by a rotary knife; and then plating a copper coat onsaid aluminum wire by sequentially passing through a tank containing acopper phosphate solution and a tank containing a copper sulfatesolution to produce a copper plating aluminum wire; and preparing acasting furnace comprising a primary furnace and a plurality ofsecondary furnaces extended from said primary furnace, and passing saidcopper plating aluminum wire vertically through said secondary furnaces,such that said copper solutions are attached onto said copper platingaluminum wire according to a predetermined thickness to producecomposite copper wire.
 2. The method for producing a composite copperwire of claim 1, wherein said electroplating device at its interiorsequentially comprises a first water tank containing deoxidized water, asecond plating tank containing a copper phosphate solution, a thirdwater tank having a water spray nozzle, a fourth plating tank containinga copper sulfate solution, and a fifth water tanks each having a waterspray nozzle, and said aluminum wire passes through a partition of saidwater tank having a waterproof washer, and said first water tank furtherincludes a rotary knife.
 3. The method for producing a composite copperwire of claim 1, wherein said primary furnace of said casting furnaceincludes a material feeding opening for feeding a copper sheet, aplurality of connecting pipes extended from lateral side of said primaryfurnace for passing copper solutions, and said each connecting pipe atits free end includes a secondary furnace, which at its interior topincludes a heat insulating layer and a heat insulating cooler disposedat the external side of the bottom, and said heat insulating layerincludes a cooler protruded from said secondary furnace, and a graphitemold protruded from the under part of said secondary furnace to saidcooler and the bottom of said heat insulating layer, and said graphitemold at its middle section includes an opening for injecting said coppersolutions, and the bottom of said graphite mold is placed into said heatinsulating cooler, such that said copper plating aluminum wire isvertically passed through said cooler and said graphite mold, andfinally produce said composite copper wire, which is guided out from thebottom of said heat insulating cooler.
 4. The method for producing acomposite copper wire of claim 3, wherein said cooler is substantiallyin a tubular shape and its internal pipe is provided for passing saidcopper plating aluminum wire, and a water tank is disposed around theinternal diameter of said pipe for a water cool circulation.
 5. Themethod for producing a composite copper wire of claim 3, wherein saidgraphite mold is substantially in a tubular shape and the internaldiameter of said pipe disposing under the opening at its middle sectionis wider than said copper plating aluminum wire.
 6. The method forproducing a composite copper wire of claim 3, wherein said heatinsulating cooler includes a passage with a downwardly tapered internaldiameter, and an upper passage is provided for installing the bottom ofsaid graphite mold, and the internal diameter of a lower passagecorresponds to said graphite mold, and a heat insulating layer and avacuum heat insulating chamber are disposed separately on a top surfacewhere said heat insulating cooler and said secondary furnace areconnected, and a water tank is disposed around said passage for a watercool circulation.
 7. The method for producing a composite copper wire ofclaim 1, wherein said connecting pipe includes a gate therein forobstructing the flow of said copper solutions.